RMS Tayleur was a short-lived, full-rigged iron clipper ship chartered by the White Star Line. She was large, fast and technically advanced. She ran aground off Lambay Island near Dublin, and sank on her maiden voyage in 1854. Of more than 650 aboard, only 280 survived. She has been described as "the first Titanic".

Tayleur was designed by William Rennie of Liverpool and built at the Charles Tayleur Foundry at Warrington for owners Charles Moore & Company (of Mooresfort, Lattin, Co Tipperary). She was launched in Warrington on the River Mersey on 4 October 1853 – it had taken just six months to build her. Prior to her launch, her future Captain John Noble had fallen into one of the seven holds and injured himself seriously. She was 230 feet in length with a 40-foot beam and displaced 1,750 tons, while 4,000 tons of cargo could be carried in holds 28 feet deep below three decks. Tayleur also had a net register tonnage of 2,500. She was named after Charles Tayleur, founder of the Vulcan Engineering Works, Bank Quay, Warrington.

Intended to begin her maiden voyage on 20 November 1853, her large size resulted in the delay of her maiden voyage by two months.

The new ship was chartered by White Star to serve the booming Australian trade routes, as transport to and from the colony was in high demand following the discovery of gold in Australia in 1851.

Tayleur left Liverpool on 19 January 1854, on her maiden voyage, for Melbourne, Australia, with a complement of 627 passengers and 25 crew. She was mastered by 29-year-old Captain John Noble. During the inquiry, it was determined that her crew of 25 had only had 12 trained seamen amongst them, of which 8 could not speak English. It was reported in newspaper accounts that many of the crew were seeking free passage to Australia. Most of the crew were able to survive Tayleur's sinking.

Her compasses did not work properly because of the iron hull. The crew believed that they were sailing south through the Irish Sea, but were actually travelling west towards Ireland. On 21 January 1854, within 48 hours of sailing, Tayleur found herself in a fog and a storm, heading straight for the island of Lambay. The rudder was undersized for her tonnage, so that she was unable to tack around the island. The rigging was also faulty; the ropes had not been properly stretched, so that they became slack, making it nearly impossible to control the sails. Despite dropping both anchors as soon as rocks were sighted, Tayleur ran aground on the east coast of Lambay Island, about 5 miles from Dublin Bay

Initially, attempts were made to lower the ship's lifeboats, but the first one was smashed on the rocks. The second one drifted out into the Irish Sea; this lifeboat was eventually found in 1856. Then it was deemed that launching further boats was unsafe and unnecessary. Tayleur was so close to land that the crew were able to collapse a mast onto the shore, and some people aboard were able to jump onto land by clambering along the collapsed mast. Some who reached shore had carried ropes from the ship, allowing others to pull themselves to safety on the ropes. Captain Noble waited on board Tayleur until the last minute, then jumped towards shore, being rescued by one of the passengers.

With the storm and high seas continuing, the ship was then washed into deeper water. She sank to the bottom with only the tops of her masts and flags showing.